Fifty Shades of Grey sequel breaks sales records

Author Jenny Colgan said it was ” a bit like peering into the inside of your dog’s head ” and British journalist Bryony Gordon found it “about as sexy as
a misery memoir and as arousing as the diary of a sex offender”. But no
matter: the fans of EL James have chosen to decide for themselves - and have
bought more than 1m copies of Grey, the latest in her Fifty Shades series, in
the US alone.

Released last Thursday, Grey tells the story of the
S&M-focused relationship between businessman Christian Grey and shy student
Anastasia Steele from the perspective of Christian - something its British
author, James, writes in her dedication that fans had “asked ...
and asked ... and asked ... and asked” for.

Early sales indications from America show she was right:
according to Vintage, which released the book in the US on June 18, it has sold
1.1m copies to date across all editions - paperback, ebook and audiobook.
Vintage publisher Anne Messitte told US trade magazine Publishers Weekly that
the figure “speaks to the engagement and passion readers have for the
Fifty Shades books”, adding: “Christian’s side of the story is
proving to be irresistible.”

A spokesperson for publisher Arrow said the sales of Grey would be “record-breaking”
for an adult book. The record for a first-week sale for an adult title is
currently held by Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, which was published in October
2009 and sold 551 000 copies in its first week.